Furnace for retorts.



3 sheets-'smi l.'

(No Model.)

ll...|l||::::x|.l|ll= 4 M I. U v 5fun. 705,907. Patented 1u|y 29, |902.

W, B. CHAPMAN. FURNACE FUR RETURTS.

(Application led Mar. 17, 1902.) A

` (no Model.) 3 sheets-sheet 2'.

lllllilll A TTOHNE'IS No. 705,907. Patented luly 29, |902.

I FunNAc nnnnnnnnnn s.

A phcation led Mm' wlwwwwwalt (No MMMMM Q iwww i UNITED STATES *A'PATENT OFFICE.

VILTIIAM BREWSTER CHAPMAN, OF B'OYNE'CITY, MICHIGAN.

yFURNACE FOR RETORTS.

SPECIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent-No. 705,907, dated July 29,1902.

Application iled March 1'7, 1902. `Serial No. 98,570. (No model.)

CHAPMAN, of Boyne City, inthe county of.

Charlevoix and State of Michigan, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Furnaces for Retorts, of which the following is aYspecification.

My invention is in the nature of a novel form of furnace andfurnace-,setting for retorts, and especially such retorts as are used inthefdistillation of wood to produce woodalcohol. In this art the retortsemployed are very long, and forrheating vthem uniformly throughout theirlength the only practical results attained have been with natural gas.

My invention provides a construction of furnace that enables me to usesolid fuel-such as wood, sawdust, shavings, and the likewhereby I amenabled to get the same results of uniform heating at much less cost andto carry outthe process of distillation at any point where wood fuel isavailable and natural gas is not to be obtained.

It consists in the Apeculiar construction and arrangement of the furnaceand setting,which I will now proceed to describe, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure I is a verticallongitudinal section of one half of one of myfurnaces. Fig. 2 is avertical transverse section through the line 2 2 of Fig. l, the lowerpart yof the lefthand furnace 4being in sectionon line2 2, Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section on line 3 3 of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectionon line 4 4 of Figi, and Figs. 5 and 6 are details of the draft-dampers.Y

My invention is designed to be applied to both long iron retorts offifty feet or more in length and to shorter ones. The long ones have afurnace at each end and the short ones a single furnace atene end.

In the drawings, A represents the long iron retort, one half of one ofwhich is shown in Fig. 1 and the other half of which is eX- actly likethe left-hand end shown in Fig. l. These retorts Vare arranged in pairs,in parallel position side by side, as seen in Fig. 2. Each retort issupported upon piers ct', being mounted upon steel rollers a a, so astobe free to have some endwise movement from l expansion and contraction.These retorts are inclosed between outside masonry walls B B and amiddle partition-wall B and atile roofing B2 and have below them ateachend and running along one-half their length the peculiar form of furnaceand setting which constitutes the leading feature of my invention. Eachretort has on its bottom a pair of rails r r, on which are run throughdoors in the end of the retort and casing trucks or buggies providedwithwood-racks,uponwhich are piled sticks of cord-wood. This wood jacentfurnace is distilled to produce woodalcohol, charcoal, and otherby-products, the distilled vapors passing off through pipe connections Ain the side of the retort to suitable condensers. y A

. In my furnace I employ two mainelements. One is a fire-box C, whichhas a topfeed-hole c, which fire-box is built out beyond the end of theretort, and the other feature is a construction of fire-flueswhich arebrought up close to the bottom of the retort, but separated therefrom bya partition having distributing-openings to effect an even distripreventthe concentraticnof heat at any one spot under the retort. Both of theseconstructions are especially related -to the use of solidlbutdisintegrated fuel, such as sawdust, shavings, time.` These materialsare fed in through the top opening c of the'fire-box C andburn on thegrate c. The fire-chamber opens at its back end into a more loftycombustion-chamber c2, and from this point the iames and gases arecarried up close to the bottom of the retort by an elevated floor D,whose level is considerably above that of the furnace proper. Above thisiioor D there is built of tile an arched partition E, running about halfthe length of the retort to a position near the middle'transverse wallG.' The flue formed below, this arched partition E opens through variouskholes e inthe tile partition up to the space immediately below theretort and also opens at the back end into the same space beneath anoverhanging tile deector F. The products of combustion are thus broughtup close to the bottom of the retort, where the best effect of heat maybe bution of the hot currents of combustion and when subjected tothehigh heat of the sub- ICO utilized, and yet the concentration andundue localizing of excessive-heat at one point of the retort is avoidedby the separation and distribution of the hot currents through theseparated holes e and the overhanging deflector F, so that all parts ofthe bottom of the retort are subjected to a practically uniform heat. f

An important feature of my invention is that the heat-flues from thefurnace are parallel with the longitudinal axis of the retort andimmediately under the retorts, and the hot currents from the furnaeeCgoout through the bottom part of the longitudinal iiue under the retort toreturn again over the top of the same to the front end of the retort. Byso doing the return-currents, which are colder than the currents juststarting out, are immediately above the greatest yheat below, while theheat of average temperature is at the point where the currents doubleback upon themselves. It will thus be seen that although thereturn-currents get cooler toward the front the outgoing subjacentcurrents are hottest at the front, and the decreased heat of the upperiue is therefore compensated for by the greater heat of the subjacentflue, so that at any point along the length of the retort the totalaverage of the combined heat-units in the upper and lower iiues will bethe same as that of every other point. If the flues were notlongitudinal and the hot currents did not double back upon themselves,and thus make a uniform average at every cross-section, it would bealmost impossible to heat the retort as evenly at all points as it isnecessary to do in order to obtain good results.

When the hot gases pass to contact with the retort, they are distributedaround the,

side walls of the same, as seen in Fig. 2. Between the inner side wallof the retort and the middle partition-wall B' the upward passage of thehot currents is blocked or closed at b, so that the currents have totraverse the bottoms, o-uter sides, and tops of the retort in gainingaccess to the horizontal exit-fines H H, thus heating all sides of theretort. These exit-fines H H are built horizontally on the top of thepartition-wall B1', and the flue II fo-rone retort is separated from theflue for 4the other retort by a long horizontally-extendedpartition-plate I, standing vertically between the flues H and H. Theseflues at their inner ends communicate with a space H immediately belowthe smoke-stack A2, and the said lines open along their sides through aseries of holes h into the space around the retort, which holes increasein size at points more remote from the smoke-stack, so as to equalizethe passage of hot currents into the flues throughout the length of theretort.

To control the passage of the hot currents to the stack, dampers J J,Figs. 5 and 6, are arranged to turn on vertical axes within a frame K,which is set at the back end of the fines H H within the space H', (seeFig. 3,) and these dampers have pull-rods L, extending to the front ofthe furnace and connected to levers M, fulcrumed to the end of thefurnace and depending to range of convenient operation, as seen in Fig.l.

In the side wall of the combustion-chamber c2 of my furnace I form aninlet passage-way c3, into which are discharged the waste gases which donot condense and which are conveniently and economically utilized asfuel, and an air-passage c4 is formed in the bridgewall to supply air tocomplete combustion. The air to support combustion of the sawdust isnottaken from below the grate, but comes in above the grate throughsJseries of side holes c5, which communicate with the outer air throughside chambers c6, Fig. 2, opening through dampers at the front of thefurnace.

The roof of the lire-box is a low arch, as seen on the left of Fig. 2,and the pile of sawdust fed in through hole c in the roof conforms tothe chamber, as shown by the dotted lines w w, so that in assuming theangle of repose on the grate-bars it does not obstruct and choke thesidegdraf ts c5 above the grate-bars. This enables metotperfectlybnrnthe cone of sawdust from its surface rather than fromits center and avoids all sparks and unconsumed smoke and takes muchless draft for thefurnace.

With a furnace of this construction I am enabled to economically effectthe distillation of wood-alcohol away from sources of supply of naturalgas and to utilize a practically waste material for fuel whereversawmills or woodworking machinery are located. I would state, however,that my furnace is in addition to the top feed provided with a sidedoor, as seen in Fig. l, through which cord- Wood or other fuel may becharged when desired.

Instead of arranging my furnaces in separated pairs the pairs may belocated side by side in one continuous bank of furnaces and retorts.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-'e 1. A furnace for a retort comprising afireboX extending beyond the end of the retort and having a feed-holefor fuel in the top of the same and a fire-line communicating with thesaid fire-box extending longitudinally beneath the retort on a higherlevel than the fire-box and having interposed between the retort andsaid due a perforated distributingpartition substantially as shown anddescribed.

2. A furnace for a retort comprising a firebox extending beyond the endof the retort and having a feed-hole for fuel in the top of the same,and a fire-flue communicating with the said fire-box and extendinglongitudinally beneath the retort on a higher level than the fire-box, aperforated arch covering said flue and extending to a point near themiddle of IOO IIO

the retort, and an overhanging deflector-plate at the inner end of saidarch substantially as described.

3. The combination with two retorts; of the two outside walls and themiddle partitionwall between the retorts, the partition-wall havingexit-fines built in its top, and independent furnaces and hot-air iiueslocated beneath each retort substantially as described.

4. The combination with the two retorts and their outer inclosing wallsand furnaces; of a middle partition-wall having two horizontal iuesbuilt in the top of the same and opening into the space about theretorts, dampers controlling said flues, pull-rods attached to thedampers and extending to the ends of the retorts, and levers connectedto said pull-rods substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. The combination with the two retorts, and their outer inclosingwalls, and furnaces; of a middle partition-wall having two horizontaliiues built in the top of the same and opening at theirends` into thesmoke-stackv tal flues built in the top of the same with a commonchamber H at the end opening into the smoke-stack and a series of holesin the sides opening into the spaces about the retorts, a damper-framewith hinged dampers set in the chamber H at the ends of the flues, andpull-rods extending through said iiues to the front of the furnace andprovided with means for working the same substantially as described.

7. A furnace for burning pulverulent or comminuted material, comprisinga ireboX having its air-inlets above the grate-bars, said re-boX havinga feed-hole for the comminuted fuelin the roof, and said roof being:made as a l-ow arch arranged in relation to the grate as describedwhereby the angle of repose of the pile of comminuted fuel fed throughthe roof onto the grate shall not cover up and obstruct the air-inletsabove the gratebars combined with a retort and its setting, said settinghaving a return longitudinal iiue built below the retort with one end ofthe lower portion of said lue in communication with the furnace-chamber,and the other p0rtion of the flue opening into the space about theretort substantially as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM BREWSTER CHAPMAN.

Witnesses:

R. M. CHAPMAN, R. W. CHAPMAN.

